The domed ceiling was high above their heads, supported by sturdy Persian style pillars. The ornate mural, painted on the ceiling, was studded with gems and semi-precious stones. It depicted the court of the Greek Gods, Mount Olympus, in all its transcendent glory. The seated Gods were looking over the proceedings in the ballroom. There was a string quartet playing serenading the crowd in the centre of the room. The room was on the top of the mansion on the hill. There were no walls. The pillars supported the dome, and the arches opened into the night. There are small rectangular pools between the pillars, just enough for 2 people to occupy a pool at a time.
Dignitaries from far and wide had graced the occasion. Dressed in the most immaculate suits and gorgeous gowns, it was a site to behold. The large ballroom floor was almost at full capacity. Even though the people weren’t dancing, their very presence lent an aura of splendour to this already magnificent environment. Waiters milled about serving people drinks and appetizers, and Lyra was just concluding a conversation with three other people, a gent and 2 ladies. She was dressed in a black cocktail dress, the gent, in a sharp suit, and the ladies, in plain evening dresses, like most of the other women at the party. They seemed really interested in her initially, but now, it looked like their hunger was getting the best of them. Lyra could hardly blame them; she was also feeling the effects of the long flight and the ensuing 3 hour cab ride all the way up to the top of this splendid little hill.
Finally, she says her goodbye and then walks to the edge of the ballroom. Leaning her head against a pillar, she looks up at the moon. In her mind, it is a sliver of cheese tonight. She decides that she is tired enough to sit down. She takes off her heels, and in as much dignity as she can muster, sits down on the ledge, her naked legs dangling over. She slowly started sipping her champagne. After she feels her nerves relaxing, she lays the glass beside her, still half full, and starts running her hand over the surface of the water in the pool. There was always something soothing about causing the first ripple on the untouched flat surface. She sits there, looking at her reflection on the undulating water surface.
“My! My! Aren’t we having a fun night! Look at you all decked up and being the centre of attention. Must be nice being noticed by so many all at once.” Lyra ignores the remark. She was still looking at her reflection. The voice continued,” Oh! So arrogant! I leave you alone for a few days and you think you can do as you like. Looks like all this attention has gone to your head”, Lyra lookes up, tired of the voice. She knew exactly who it belonged to. “Oh do shut up Garnet! Leave me alone tonight! It’s been a long and tiring day and I really don’t want to deal with you.” she says as she looks up to face Garnet.
Garnet was on the other end of the pool, her arms resting on the edge of the pool, the top of her bright yellow dress just barely visible above the edge of the water. Multiple empty champagne glasses lay arranged in a file behind her and she held another glass in her hand that was nearly empty. A smirk appeared on her face. She had successfully caught Lyra’s attention and replied, “And that is exactly why I’m here, deary. You’re quite vulnerable right now and I really don’t plan to waste any opportunity I find. You keep try to build walls between us, strong ones at that, so it’s quite natural of me to search for cracks and holes.” She gives a small giggle and mumbles something that sounds like holes.
Lyra massages her temples with her wet fingers. The coolness of the water helps her calm down. She was hoping that she wouldn’t have to face Garnet on this trip. All of her previous interactions with the vixen at public events had led to her leaving early under embarrassing circumstances. She would often cuss and cry herself to sleep on those nights, but over the years, she had slowly grown to accept it and it looked like the people around her had also come to accept it. She was systematically invited to lesser and lesser events. Tonight’s event was her first after one full year. To Lyra, it was as if Garnet took a sadistic pleasure in watching her suffer.
“What do you want tonight?” she asks. Garnet looks at her with faked innocence, “I just want to be loved” and then bursts out laughing. “I don’t care for you. For all I care, you can be dead in a ditch and I wouldn’t look at you twice” replies Lyra. Garnet’s eyes fill with rage. She throws her now empty glass over the edge and moves with inhuman speed across the water to face Lyra with half of her body still submerged and not a single ripple on the surface of the pool. “You don’t have the luxury of not caring for me. You know the deal. If I go, you come with me. If you lose me, you will lose yourself. Whatever fragments of sanity and control over your life that you think you have, will be drowned out in your mindless screaming. I promise you that.”
Lyra moves back as Garnet’s anger subsided and suddenly another full glass of champagne appears in Granet’s hand. She lazily fondles the stem of the glass looking at the people. “This really is a nice party.” She says, “You are lucky to be able to have such a bash thrown for you. It’s been what…a year since your last invite? You shouldn’t be sitting here, go out there and have fun. Get drunk and go crazy. You know you want to”. She winks.
Lyra snorts,” As I recall, that didn’t end so well the last time I listened to you.” Garnet giggles annoyingly,” Of course! How could I forget Hawaii! You, running around topless, with enough alcohol in your system to make even the worst drunk quiver”. “I’m lucky to be alive!! You were nearly the death of me”. “Nearly is the key word here”. Lyra sighs, “Why are you so adamant to make my life so miserable? I can never have a calm night and leave with my dignity ever since you started showing up”. “I’m here to show you what you want to do. You can’t get rid of me that easily”. “I don’t want to be wild! I’ve told you that many times!”. “And yet I’m still here”. Lyra is now exasperated. She sighs and finishes the rest of her drink all at once.
“You know what your problem is?” continues Garnet, “You have no idea of what you have. You pass it off as irrelevant or normal or whatever you want to call it”. Lyra smirks,” And how is that connected to tonight?” Garnet looks at her and then puts her glass down. She makes her way to the far edge of the pool and quite energetically hops out of the pool revealing a large red fin as the lower half of her body, her shining golden dress perfectly melding into the crimson scales of her waist. She screams,” YOU ARE ALL SCUM AND DESERVE TO ROT IN HELL!!!” Nobody turns to look at her. She waits for a few seconds. The rich sound of music and the buzz of human conversation fill the air. She starts flapping her tail and throws her arms into the air, trying to get their attention again,” WHO WOULD LIKE A WILD NIGHT WITH A GIRL WITH LOOSE MORALS?” Again, nobody reacts. Garnet noisily flips back into the pool and makes her way back to Lyra. “Was all that necessary?” she asks. Garnet stakes a deep draught of champagne before answering,” You can say anything you want and people will hear you, they will react; they will at the very least tell you that you are insane. Me? I get to spend my days looking out into the vastness and think, ‘what would it be like to be heard’. It gets quite lonely…especially when the only person I can ever talk to is you, and if you hadn’t noticed, you’re not much of a conversationalist.” Lyra let out a weak sigh. She looks back up at the moon. The sky was clear and cloudless. The wind was cool. Garnet joined Lyra. That was one of the very very few things that they seemed to have in common.
The three people, which were talking to Lyra before, walk past her and notice her sitting all by herself. One of the women has her arm around the gent’s waist. She says, in a not so quiet voice, “I feel sorry for Lyra. Must be so hard being called mad and not be taken seriously by people.” The other woman chimed in, “Don’t feel sorry for her. This is her choice. I think we are being nice to her by even inviting her to any public events at all. It’s a disgrace to us all, the way she acts. Having a mental illness is no excuse”. “That’s a bit harsh. I’m sure she’s doing her best…” “Like hell she is! Look at her! She was talking to the air right till just a few minutes ago. Everyone here is really polite in not calling her out in public. It takes all my will power to not say anything. She has issues. She should solve them. This community would gladly help her in any way it can, but at the moment she’s imposing her presence on us all.” The gent empty’s his glass and firmly says,” Enough….both of you. We’re here to have a good time. Don’t waste the night discussing depressing things. Lyra is amazing in her own right, even if she is slightly….defective.” The first woman looks at the man and pouts, “Looks like someone has a tiny crush on lady snot-for-brains there”. The three of them then slowly walk off, the gent trying in vain to defend himself, while the two women take immeasurable pleasure in antagonizing him.
Garnet turns to Lyra, aghast. “Is this really what goes on with you?” Lyra smiles weakly,” It used to be a lot worse, but it also used to be a lot more tolerable. People see me talking to you, arguing with you and well, you can understand why they would think I am crazy”. “Well, you can’t help talking to me. I’m very demanding of attention.”. “I know that…but they don’t”.
Garnet looks back over her shoulder. She looks at all the people, well dressed, well groomed, politely going about talking to each other, laughing. Then she looks back at Lyra. She looks into her eyes. The same eyes which she had been looking into for years. The same kindness lay in them. “Well, you’ve got a talent that none of the people here have. You can see the goodness in people, look at their bright side. Not many people like you are left in this world.” Lyra replies,” Is this really happening? Are you actually trying to comfort me?” She laughs as Garnet’s face turns red. Garnet replies,” Well... you… I… can’t have you getting all depressed by these loons. You’re mine after all”. “Ya, ya. Sure thing” says Lyra mockingly. She looks back at the three people who commented on her. “Hey. Garnet?” “Yes?” “You told me that I can see the goodness in people. That it’s my….talent?” “I did. What about it?” “So why can’t I see anything in these people?”
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